Connect was a British

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

representing workers in the

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

industry.

History

The union was founded in 1912 as the Society of Post Office Engineering Inspectors. In 1947, the Society of Chief Inspectors merged in, and it adopted the new name of the Society of Telecommunication Engineers. Another merger took place in 1969, when the Telecommunication Traffic Officers' Association joined, with the name changing to the Society of Post Office Engineers, and in 1975 the Telecommunications Sales Superintendents' Association merged in, and it became the Society of Post Office Executives (SPOE), by which point it had more than 20,000 members. Around the turn of 1983, the union became the Society of Telecom Executives, then finally it became Connect in 2000.

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

,
Society of Post Office Executives
Connect's final president was Denise McGuire, while its final general secretary was Adrian Askew. In 2010, Connect merged into

Prospect Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (mining ...

, the union for managers and engineers.

Overview

Certain employers formally recognised Connect, for example, companies like BT Group,

O2 plc O2 (typeset as O2) is a global brand name owned by the Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica. The company uses the O2 brand for its subsidiaries in the United Kingdom and Germany. Since 2018, it is also used as an online-only flanker br ...

, Yell Group,

Guernsey Telecoms Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a Crown Dependencies, British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of t ...

, HP, Vodafone UK and Kingston Communications. In these companies Connect negotiates on members' behalf. In companies where there is growing membership but no formal recognition as yet, such as T-Mobile or

Energis Energis Communications Limited, briefly Telecom Electric, or more usually just Energis, was a 'technology driven communications company' based in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, but subse ...

, employees still can access union services.

Disputes

Connect Members in BT undertook industrial action in 2008.

References

External links

Official Website

Connect Leaning
Connects

ULR Phenylpropanolamine (PPA) is a sympathomimetic agent which is used as a decongestant and appetite suppressant. It was commonly used in prescription drug, prescription and over-the-counter drug, over-the-counter cough and cold preparations. In v ...

site
Pay Fair Campaign Site

Catalogue of the Connect archives
held at the

Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collecti ...

Branches

Connect in Vodafone
Blog for Vodafone members
Connect South
Non BT - Covers Southern England outside the M25 Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom Trade unions established in 1912 Trade unions disestablished in 2010 {{UK-org-stub